Performance chip - ECU flash for Yamaha V MAX SHO VF25O

I have typically purchased an aftermarket chip/programmer for my trucks. Such as those that raise rev limiters, provide more torque/hp etc. Normally brands/items such as superchips or SCT Livewire. I have never had an issue with any of them on my trucks, always gained more performance without having any mechanical troubles.

My buddy and I each have skeeter bass boats, 21', with Yamaha V MAX SHO® VF250's. His is a ZX model and mine is an FX.

We got to talking about performance and we were wondering if they make anything in the form of a chip/programmer for these outboards such as they do for automobiles?

If so, what are some of the best brands or places to buy from? Also, for those that have tried this type of deal out, what has been your experience, i.e.

- any noticeable gains on hole shot and top end speed?

- any mechanical issues that are for sure from the chip and not just from the user?

Here are a couple of places that do ECU upgrades.


http://www.simonmotorsports.com/yamahaecu.html
http://www.magnumtuning.com/en/detail/dyno-boost-boat-performance-chip/yamaha/vf250-v-max-sho

Also you may want to check BBC Yamaha performance page.

If your going to do any performance mods on Yamaha motors Hydro-tec is the way to go. They have a ecu flash that will make 300 plus hp.

Good to know

Thanks for the info guys. Anyone have info as to whether or not these things cause any damage to the engine? I do regular maintenance and everything and just wanted a few more mph with a little better hole shot.

I'd love to do this to my boat but wouldn't be able to use it in tournaments anymore.

Call hydro tec for a flash but to get true power from flash I think u have buy like small cheap part

Have you checked to see if it will affect your warrantee ?

Is hydro tec better/more recommended than Simon?

Outboards typically use a different electronic format than autos (closed loop, rather than an open loop), so no viable chips or piggy back units are available. You ECM can be reprogrammed. Outboards are typically tuned on the safe side since the manufacturer has no idea how the motor will be used, but any reprogramming always carry's a risk.

Hydrotec is the Yamaha guru! I've hung out with him few times and he knows his stuff. I've never felt with Simon but all I hear and see is Hydrotec on 90 percent of Yamaha out there going back to 90s style motors

BBC has the best info. Hydrotec is said to be the best. So far, the only way a yamaha tech can tell if you have a flash is if you raise the limiter. They can see you went over stock rooms without throwing a code. Personally, I won't chance it, plus I think my boat is fast enough. But, there have been some skeeters that gained some decent speed out of it. One issue is the rpm and torque band has a flat spot built in that starts at 5k and is almost flat till 6k. Some guys were having a hard time getting past that spot to reach the extra power you get by raising the limiter. All the info is on BBC.

From what I can tell you really do not gain anything until you start getting higher rpms on a 250. This is a lot easier to achieve on go fast boats.

I did have a older skeeter pass me and leave me last year on Dardanelle. I was running 76-78. Hahahah

When I asked the Yamaha service rep about being able to see it. He just smiled. I'm sure they have a way of telling if anything catastrophic happened. I wouldn't feel that comfortable over 6500rpm for extended time.

Very good to know, thanks. I'll call hydro tec Monday.

As far as warranty, if it's anything like my truck was you just return it to stock before sending it to the dealer.

There is a company that, well, 450 hp with a supercharger but you probably don't want that much oomph.

They claim it will make 600 plus also and the 459 is severely defined. But then again ur nuts putting it on bass boat!

its my understanding that sho 225 250 300 are all the same engine -just tuned differently =change ecm

Get ready. You will spend about 1000$ on tuning then that much on props and tweaking.

I was in Tennessee fishing about three weeks ago and there was a guy in an Allison that had a Yamaha SHO on it. I don't know what he had done to the Yamaha but that thing sounded awesome. It was definitely not stock. It was early morning with completely calm water and he made several passes and was hauling.

On a couple of passes he was shooting a stream of water up quite a ways in the air on one side. Water was coming out right around the motor. Anyone know what does that?

Two years ago Simon was doing the flashing for Hydo-tec

From what I have read and learned after talking to some people, especially Hydro Tec and Steves custom props, leaving it at stock (6,200rpm) or going up to no more than (6,400rpm) is best. Then, it is most likely that to get the most out of it you will need a 26 - 27 pitched prop instead of the 25. Both to make sure you stay away from over revving, and to gain a little more on top end.

Anyone have any experience with these settings and what the outcome was on the boat?

White Allison at the World Finals? That fellow was certainly hauling bass......

Looks cool.

My Guess would be a phase III kit from hydro tech

The difference is that in cars there is not a rule that limits the horsepower. If you fish tournaments and they have a rule stating that you cannot exceed the USCG rating on your boat and you have your ECU modified to make it a 300 HP engine then you are breaking the rules. I do know several people that have had their boards modified and it does make them a 300HP engine.

Not trying to be funny or anything....but what's the point?

Because only a hand full of people break 80mph. It's harder than you think. I've seen plenty of capable boat that will never break it.

Again, what's so big about breaking 80?

Never won a tournament going 80. Just saying.

Besides, I'm pretty sure that will null your warranty on the motor.

Solid red, it was a beautiful boat but sounded even better.

I'd like to revisit this post and see if anyone has any new information or updates. I am close to pulling the trigger with Hydro Tech on a flash and possibly raising the rev limiter to 6400 as the research I have done and people I have spoken with feel this is the optimum flash/tune that will provide plenty of performance whether or not you adjust prop/pitch.

I have a skeeter fx21 with Yamaha sho and a 25p T2. I was told that keeping my same prop and pitch, along with the flash and raising the rev to 6400 should alone get me close to the range of 3-5mph gains depending on certain things. I asked if the 25p would make it over rev 6400 and was told no by more than one person. I am only looking to gain 3-5mph anyway, so if I can do that and keep my current prop without having to spend money on another I prefer that.

Does anyone else have a skeeter with a Yamaha and had theirs flashed?

Note: yes I am aware of the warranty aspect of this decision, that is part of why I am still somewhat debating. However I may look into purchasing a new ECU and using it only for the flash. A little more money upfront but if something were to ever happen, even unrelated to the flash, then I could switch it back to the original and not have a warranty issue.

so it looks like you want to raise your boats horsepower an then if it has a problem you would like to have the manufacturer to pick the tab up.

Yep, glad you noticed that. Thanks for the the info.

Has nothing to do with catching fish at 80. Actually it has noting to do with fishing at all. It's purely for the adrenaline and fun, kind of like owning a hotrod for the street.

Exactly, and in fact I am not even trying to go 80 or push the motor to the max. But if there is the capability to get just a little more performance out of it and not hurt anything, why not? It is done on vehicles every day.

Then buy a Bullet!

Or

Fastest boat alive.

Off topic but I’d be scared can’t get my 2018 250 SHO to stop makin oil.And all I hear is run it hard?Nothin like runnin the [censored] out of motor with diluted oil.

They're not worried about winning a tournament...

Because you can't even enter any decent sized tournament after doing this without breaking the rules.

Sent ya a PM.

A guy that wants to buy an additional computer for warranty issues isn't worried about rules....
With that said, I can also understand wanting to tweak your motor to get better performance. As he said, it's done to cars all the time.

I guess he gave up tournament fishing. I'm not any good at cheating polygraphs so I'll have to keep my motor stock.

I can see where it would still be within Tournament rules. If the added (Dyno) HP is still within the Coast Guard Limit. For example, a boat with a 300 limit and a 250 ECU upgrade to 300 is within the rule.

Whats your FX21 rated for?

I just swap cowlings, no one knows the better....
ECU,Rev-limit, flash smash... Takes about 2 mins...... .......

If there is one thing I've learned, the want too, or in this case, the factory setting are better left lone... WHY you ask?? Booooooooooooom that's why...

My 21 is rated for 300, I think they all are.

The new ones say 250 on the website. I know a lot of 21 footers use to say V6 or 300. I'm all for going fast and if I didn't fish any tournaments I'd have a stage 3 kit on my boat.

Over 20' and its only a recommendation as far as the USCG is concerned. Tournament rules and manufacturers warranty is another story.

Don't do it. You will get stress cracks.

haha



But for real.....if the guy wants to go fast....who cares? If he wants to play around with the potential warranty issues, who cares? I fish tourneys with a 150 every weekend and I almost always place in the top 10%. The speed of a boat isn't a real advantage, so I don't see what the fuss is about.

I have been in some really big tourneys and polygraph tested 3x. Not one time was I ever asked if my ECU was flashed or was my 150 making 187 HP. Trust me....they don't care. They asked if I wore my jacket while on the motor, did I foul hook any fish, did I gather information during the tourney, and did I observe the off limits times. Etc.

.....oh......and even if my boat COULD go 70+ mph, I doubt I ever would find out.

Its that did you break any rules question.

"All motors must be factory rated not to exceed 250 HP or the manufacturer/CG maximum for the vessel". Key word is factory rated. Doesn't say a thing about what happens to it afterwards. Some motors actually make more than rated power....some make less. As long as it was rated 250 at the factory, and doesn't exceed the boats maximum rated HP....all is good, I guess.

I have a 2004 F150 Yamaha that is rated 150Hp at 5250 rpm....problem is, it spins to 6200 and far exceeds 150 HP at 6200. It's factory original, unmodified.

Am I breaking a rule?

I fish against a couple guys with a BassCat that is powered by a Mercury "Racing" 225. It has the exhaust coming out of the lower unit above the prop. Obviously modded. Has tons of cam work, piston work, carbon fiber reeds, etc. claims it to make around 315 hp. "But not sure" he says. Lol. The boat is wicked fast.

Is he breaking a rule?

The motor on a boat doesn't catch fish. Yeh....he had actually beaten me to a spot once. In 50+ tourneys. Most of the time, I think the 1 minute of extra fishing time he gets, I can overcome with making one more quality cast then him. Easy.

....again.....who cares if this guy wants to make his boat a little more fun to pilot around?

Hydro tech is the place to go with a Yamaha! There is nothing wrong for wanting to get more out of your rig

I don’t have a dog in this hunt but it Looks like BassChamps has addressed this issue. They are the only one I looked up



I’d still like to know what my ZX200 would do if I flashed the 200 to a 300.

[b][/b]

I caught a 5lber with 5 minutes to spare in BLT last year that secured the win. As much as I ran around that day I'm certain I saved 5 minutes by having an 80mph boat.

If you can break the rules and pass a poly and don't see anything wrong with it. That's on you. I couldn't ever purposely break a rule.

In this rule, he would not be "cheating" Since he would not alter his Hp numbers "on his motor". They would still be printed the same as they were before the flash. It also wouldn't exceed his boats CG rating of 300 hp.

The jest of the rule is to prevent someone from having a 300 horse motor on a 19ft boat rated for 200....and concealing it under a 200 hp cowling....I guess. Or having a 300 hp motor and saying they had a 200 on their registration.

I didn't say I broke a rule....I said I was never asked about hp ratings on a boat.

Tons of cam work? In a 2 stroke?

Boats over 20ft are not rated by the coast guard. Manufacturers put the silly ratings on them.

This thread is hilarious. The OP never mentioned tournaments. Just asked about modding his motor. He never even mentioned tournaments. And everyone since has gotten all riled up about tournament rules and [censored]. Only a handful of actual helpful responses. Y'all crack me up. My 2 cents. Hydrotec is the way to go. If my HPDI blows again I'll probably have HydroTec rebuild it.

Um....maybe not? I guess the 2S doesn't have cams?! Shows what I know about 2strokes.

Can you, or anyone, show me where this is stated clearly an any tournament rules? From what I see, tournaments state:

Maximum horsepower for all outboards used in tournament
competition may not exceed the horsepower limitations as set by the U. S. Coast Guard
in such vessel.

I'm sorry to have to tell you guys but the US Coast Guard rates a 21' bass boat at 300hp. Now the boat manufacturers themselves may say this boat is rated for such and such, for instance, my 21 skeeter fx is rated by skeeter at 250, ONLY because they are partnered with Yamaha and Yamaha doesn't make a 300. The boat could easily handle a 300 if there was one (of course they make the OS 300).

However, Mercury and Evinrude make a 300 and just this past weekend on Toledo Bend I saw 3 different boats with 300's, one was a legend one was a skeeter (obviously bought and replaced the Yamaha most likely, since it was a little older model skeeter, and a ranger).

I then called and spoke to a tournament director I know fairly well and he said that this is somewhat of a gray area but he has never heard of an issue when it comes to 21' boats, simply because of how the rules are worded, as shown above, about the US Coast Guard rating, not boat rating. Most of the time those impacted are the smaller boats that try and put a 250 or above on a boat that came with a 150 etc.

So until someone can back up their claim that doing a flash only to go from 250 to 300 on a 21' boat will break tournament rules, it just means you are repeating what you read on the internet and don't really know.

Go by the plate on your boat. That is what a td is gonna go by

A guy that wants to buy an additional computer for warranty issues isn't worried about rules....
With that said, I can also understand wanting to tweak your motor to get better performance. As he said, it's done to cars all the time. [/quote]
I guess he gave up tournament fishing. I'm not any good at cheating polygraphs so I'll have to keep my motor stock.[/quote]

I can see where it would still be within Tournament rules. If the added (Dyno) HP is still within the Coast Guard Limit. For example, a boat with a 300 limit and a 250 ECU upgrade to 300 is within the rule. [/quote]

Yep

Yamaha does make a 4 stroke 300 and a 350 but they are saltwater models.

The 300 hp model is the same 4.2 L block as the 250 SHO bass version. A buddy of mine runs one on his Skeeter 22 foot center console bay boat.

Check out this bad boy 804 Pounds!!

This is wrong, you don't have to Falsify that you have a 250, if you flash it you can put 300 and still be within the rules. It clearly states "by the U. S. Coast Guard in such vessel", which is 300 on boats I know at least 21'. It also states by "altering the horsepower numbers on the motor or rating plate to conceal such limitations". No one is talking about putting on a false cowling or scratching out numbers on the rating plate, we are just talking about flashing the ECU and nothing else.

Then they wouldn't be going by their own rules because it says NOTHING about manufactured HP.

Does anyone even read or research on their own or just spew out what they hear?

By the way, I NEVER mentioned anything about tournament fishing, just a freaking question about peoples experiences with flashing an ECU.

Ok.lol

Did you see the PM I sent you?

Not EVERYONE fishes tournaments OR even cares about "tournament rules". Some actually just enjoy bass fishing, want their boat to perform, so as for the OP, contact HydroTec or give Steve a call at 903-763-5225.

With that being said: If he did decide to fish a tournament, its all on HIM to pass polygraph. With all the people commenting about rules, the only thing that REALLY could be done if TD determine otherwise is: file a protest according to tournament rules. Are YOU going to be "THAT guy"???
I won't. I could care less what a man runs on HIS boat unless it "actually" breaks the rules & gives him unfair advantage over other anglers. Common sense aint so common anymore.

The max rating on my FX21 is 300HP.

I could put a 300HP on my boat if I so choose and still be with in all tournament rules. Dont know why it would be any different if I flashed my 250hp to a 300hp. It's still with in the rating.

With that said I know of a couple of bay boats that have had this done and after 2 years, so far so good.

I was able to take the boat out Sunday to test the flash from Wayne at hydro tech. As I stated above prior to the flash I ran it under the following:　

full tank of gas
normal tournament load of tackle (which I am considered light compared to most)　
empty live wells　
motor on the 3rd hole, which is how it came from skeeter　
motor on the 7th dot showing which is also how it came from skeeter　
just me, not my tournament partner　
25 pitch T2 yamaha sho prop that came with the boat　

With this set up, and perfectly calm water in the morning around 10am, about 90 degrees here in Houston, I ran a top speed of 72.6 around 5980 to 6000 rpm (that is just because as the boat bounced some it jumped between those numbers). This is when I fully trim the motor all the way up to 100%, but as some have noted, it will get up to around 5700 to 5800 quick and around 69 to 70 mph. I then need to run a decent distance still for it to continue on to the top end numbers I just posted above.

Now with the flash. Literally all I did was flash the ECU and plug it back it. Using the exact same set up at above, prior to the flash, here are my numbers. (The only difference was the water wasn't completely calm, there was a slight chop and depending on the section of the lake, it was at times a little too rough to continue running fully trimmed up due to wake boats and jet skis causes waves)

Around 10am and tempature close to the same, when water chop allowed I was able to run 75.2 at around 6080 to 6100, again only because as the boat bounced some it jumped between those numbers. I think with slick water and not having to worry about the danger of going that fast in choppy water, I might have gotten just a touch more out of it. But honestly the thing that stood out most was how quick I got to 72 - 73 and that came at around 5700 to 5800 rpm. This was mainly because I had to keep the motor tucked under some due to the chop and play boats on the lake. But that is already more than I was getting wide open in perfect conditions prior to the flash as mentioned above.　

With these numbers, I am not sure I need to do much else to the motor height or with a prop, 75mph at 6100 rpm is pretty dang close to the most I will get from this boat/motor set up. I only have the one prop though and will be purchsing a back up, just not sure if I want a 25p but blueprinted and cupped or a 26p. I need to find someone that has a 26 just to try out and see what happens.　

Overall I am very happy with the results, and as some have said, it actually is noticeable in terms of the difference in power. I mean granted it is only 50 more hp but you can feel it and the numbers speak for themselves.

They do have a crank shaft, I had to replace one. Want to see a pic?

https://www.marineengine.com/parts/mercu...connecting-rods

Good on you!!! Now enjoy YOUR rig... Stay safe & have fun. (IMHO) you're NOT breaking any rules. I'm sure you're aware the ONLY one is a BASS affiliated event of 250hp max. Simple. Reflash to stock before participating. Easy Peasy. Go for it!!!

I am happy with it, I am still under 6200 rpms so no added stress on the motor and running the speed I want, or can, if needed. I don't fish any BASS, not good enough. The few I do fish I asked 1 of the TD's and he said that if the boat is rated for a 300 then flashing a motor to that isn't breaking a rule.

Just buy one of these, hull rating is "unlimited" ! There are many tournament trails that limit to 250 HP, not just BASS.

I have a buddy with a 2002 Skeeter (202 maybe?) and a 225 Yamaha VMAX ox66. He took it to Hydrotec and let them work on it. He was getting up to 77-78 after they did their thing. He did blow his motor about a year later. Not sure if it was related at all.

They also have a 100+ mph Stroker and it's worth a google. I think he's actually selling it too

So what is the difference between a regular 200 sho and a flashed 200 sho speed wise, with no limit change?
Can you have the flash done on a 200 sho to just 250hp?

In my experience and IMHO you can figure about 1 mph average per 10hp raised by the flash. It all depends on load, setup, prop, driver, etc..........but that's going to be close.